IBM, CA Ease Mainframe Software Management, Development

IBM unveiled a number of new software products to make it easier for businesses to manage their mainframe environments and develop applications for the platform. In addition, CA announced that its Endevor Software Change Manager is integrated with IBM's Rational mainframe developer platform.

IBM and CA are rolling out separate software offerings designed to
make it easier for businesses to manage and develop applications in
their mainframe environments.
IBM on Nov. 19 unveiled a host of of software offerings designed
to expand the workloads-from data analytics to application maintenance
to collaboration application development-that can run on its System z
mainframe systems.

The new offerings come three months after IBM rolled out its System
z Solution Edition Series, which are packages of hardware, software and
services that helps businesses deploy such workloads as data
warehousing, electronic payments and disaster recovery onto their
mainframes.

IBM's IMS 11 is aimed at giving businesses direct SQL access to IMS
data from distributed platforms, a move that speeds up the process of
connecting applications and data. In addition, better Java support will
enable those developers to support IMS software and services.
IBM also is unveiling several new WebSphere products, including
WebSphere Process Server for z/OS V7, WebSphere ILOG Business Rule
Management Systems, WebSphere MQ for z/OS V7.0.1, WebSphere Message
Broker for z/OS V7.0, and Problem Determination Tools V10.
The products will give users greater insights into their businesses
to grow innovation and productivity, according to IBM officials.
For developers, Rational Developer for System z version 7.6 brings a
more modern GUI environment, which officials say will not only increase
productivity to programmers already working on the mainframe, but also
attract new-and younger-developers to the platform. It also will help
developers cut in half CPU usage, which will help businesses drive down
costs.
Rational Team Concert for System z version 2.0 makes it easier for
developers to collaborate through a new common repository. IBM also
upgraded its set of Rational Compilers for C/C++, COBOL and PL/I to
reduce application MIP requirements and increase developer productivity.
IBM's Tivoli Asset Discovery for z/OS removes software that is not
being used or is out of date and enables businesses to better plan
their software use. Tivoli NetView for z/OS 5.4 gives administrators
greater insight into their networks, while Tivoli zSecure gives
automated analysis and reporting of mainframe events while lowering
auditing costs.
For its part, CA officials on Nov. 19 said they are integrating its
change management solution- CA Endevor Software Change Manager-and
IBM's Rational Developer for System z V7.6.
The combination will streamline application updates and reduce change-related programming errors, which will help simplify the managing and developing of mainframe software.
Given that many mainframe developers already use both products, the
integration of the two makes sense, according to Aline Gerew, senior
vice president of software engineering in CA's Mainframe Business Unit.
"The integration of [the two products] is particularly useful for
development teams looking to drive computing workloads back to the
mainframe in order to drive down costs and deliver superior service
levels," Gerew said in a statement.
New capabilities will enable Rational mainframe developers to view
and retrieve Endevor SCM elements to their Rational projects, filter
their Rational mainframe views by environment, system, subsystem, stage
ID, and element, create multiple views, and copy projects into CA's
Endevor SCM.